What side of the health/weight loss argument do you sit on?

[Flopsy145]

My Instagram algorithm seems to be largely animal based diets, featuring meals such as beef mince, avocado, blueberries and raw honey (all mixed in together). I see a lot of bone broth, raw milk, obscene amount of eggs and cast iron skillets. No calorie counting, but definitely tracking protein. All weight training and pilates.

A few years ago I would be seeing skinny syrup and slender blend shakes, huge calorie deficits, lots of tracking. Cardio, light weight high reps etc.

For me, I eat a lot of meat, mainly beef and chicken. I eat at least 3 eggs a day, and try and eat lots of fruit and veg. Will eat bread, ideally sourdough but also love a bit of tiger bloomer. I don't like sweeteners so will use agave or honey, like to avoid additives but will eat the odd takeaway or cake. I CBA to calorie count but will eat mindfully. I love Jersey cow milk but won't drink raw milk. Don't have phosphates or sulphates in my hair care but will use Clarine eye cream rather than beef tallow 😂

Ideally I'd have a beehive and my own cows and chickens and allotments but sadly that's not the case.

There's plenty more out there, I'm just curious to see where other people sit on this spectrum?

This.

I'm broadly in the eat as whole and natural as possible, avoid processed food as much as possible. Try not to eat too much sugar (or any added sugar - fell off that bandwagon over Christmas but decided going back on it today); plenty of protein, vegetables, good fats. Some carbs but trying not to eat too many (but we have a bread maker so I eat bread at the weekend but it's homemade and I know exactly what is in it).

Am trying to eat low / next to no sugar, processed food. More protein and vegetables. Low alcohol.

This sounds like a really positive and healthy way to live! Think I might take a leaf out of your book

My dad was at his slimmest and fittest when he completely cut out processed sugar and refined carbs. He was still eating fruit and some starchy veg and pulses but mainly was protein.

We all have different interests haha. I like researching nutrition and exercise etc, trying new things to see if it works. But many of my friends couldn't think of anything more dull!

I think so too, i would love to grow all my own fruit and veg but I don't have time or knowledge, i like to get organic when I can but it's so pricey although the frozen organic fruit and veg is more affordable and less waste.
One person I follow on social media said her IBS symptoms disappeared when she went on an animal based diet, 90% meat and meat products and very little fruit or veg, and said fibre was a myth 😂

I say this as a meat, fish etc eater - science is firmly on the side of plant based. Very firmly. See Colin Campbell, Dr Christopher Gardener work at Yale. Longevity, heart health, cancer reduction etc etc. Your 3 eggs a day habit even has its own set of research showing it’s not long term healthy.

there are people who have eg Sibo, where to cure the overgrowth of bacteria a short term ‘carnivore diet’ deprives the bacteria of the carb they want. But it is short term.

but if we’re talking weight loss, nothing easier and more effective than something like the human being diet or bright line eating, both of which are zero simple carb, high veg, high protein diets (could be animal or plant)

I keep getting adverts for weight loss drugs on my social media. I have been taking an active interest in natural and whole foods over the last year since the UPF interest, follow people like Chris Van Tuleken and Rob Hobson, google lots about increasing fibre in our diets and how to cook certain ingredients I'm new to, and social media tracking seems to have translated that to wanting to lose weight. I don't need to lose weight.

I try to avoid UPF where I can but I'm not evangelical about it. We are experimenting with a new bread maker and enjoying the results, so I'm definitely eating more bread lately! Doing dry January as usual. Need to work on drinking more water.

We have chickens and a v. large garden so a lot of home grown fruit and veg. I'm taking a bee keeping course this year so eventually we'll have our own honey. I'm toying with the idea of raising a turkey each summer for our Christmas dinner, but that is a step into proper homesteading territory that I'm not quite ready to make just yet.

What do you mean by sides and spectrum?

My view is that people need to eat what is healthy for them in terms of weight loss and what works for them

Eating for weight loss is very different to eating for health. There are foods that I cant enjoy freely when trying to lose weight but want and need to eat when maintaining for my health

I also try to exercise for health but thats not good for me weight wise as it makes me famished, s its a difficult balance.

I don’t eat much meat, I just don’t like it. Prefer fish.
I just try to eat as well as I can, I know sugar is the main problem for me. I had an eating disorder in my younger days…

Would have been much more invested in “diets” back then.

I try to be low UPF, my breakfast lunch and dinner are all home cooked meals.

I also start each day with a Starbucks protein coffee because I struggle to get my protein in otherwise. It's all about balance isn't it

I mean there's one side of weight loss/healthy eating views that are the Atkins diet for instance, then there's plant based, there's carnivore, there's calorie counting regardless of what you're eating, the list goes on and I just referred to it as a spectrum as it's a wide range of different views/diets/research

Masses of protein and I'm a butter, not margarine person. With lots of salad and veg. Low on carbs these days but my protein is HIGH.

I know what you’re saying, OP. All about plants with me.
I’d quite happily go vegan. I might start working towards it.

I think very few people are very hard core of one particular methodology

Personally I try to stay fairly low carb, Ive had a sleeve so cant eat in volume so plant based protein is no good for me as I cant eat enough of it to get any in me. I love my dairy which is probably not good for me Im learning about acid in the stomach.
I know that when Im forced to eat carby foods too often like when on holiday in the UK, I dont feel well, eating out in the day is unbelievably hard if you dont eat bread/potatoes/pastries/wraps/chips/cakes/biscuits etc etc. Theres just nothing of any substance to eat. Soup is always 'winter vegetable', 'summer vegetable', 'mixed vegetable'. Or my absolute horror for acid indigestion 'roast pepper and tomato'. Heartburn central.

I like meat, I dont find it easy to eat certain meats, fatty meats seem to go down easier, not sure why that is so I love pork belly and chicken thighs, I cant eat white fish but do eat salmon and prawns

So its horses for courses

I dont eat anything with artificial sweetners in them which makes buying food a russian roulette and drinks? Forget it. Im trying to find aloe vera drinks at the moment as they are good for acid reduction, cant find any without aritifical sweetners. Apart from LIdl and they dont sell it anymore.

I don't sit on any side.
Never been overweight, largely due to lifelong anxiety managed by "common sense".
I eat what I want, in very small amounts.
Stomach just goes the size of a plum sometimes.
Clearly an advantage.
😕

She’s not wrong in that many people with IBS find that starch, sugars and fibre exacerbate their symptoms and that fibre often affects the digestion of people with IBS differently than those without - insoluble fibre often causes them severe constipation rather than the opposite as it does for most people. Obviously fibre isn’t a “myth”, but she very possibly has been advised about it medically.

That's really interesting, thank you! I had IBS issues for years but seems to have abated since avoiding added sweeteners and fake flavourings for the most part.

Yes I have IBS issues and cant tolerate a high fibre diet.

I have bad IBS and am waiting further tests to see if it’s IBD as have other auto immune symptoms
I had to give up gluten over 10 years ago and recently tried dairy free but have found I can tolerate small amounts with lactase tablets
FODMAP is very restrictive but has improved my stomach/bowel issues immensely but you do have to be very careful with a lot of fruit or veg and/or limit quantities eg I’m allowed 6 cherry tomatoes or 1/3 courgettes but not at same time! I’m getting very bored of the things I can eat eg carrots and having to take iron and vitamin supplements
Thankfully I can fill up on protein
I’ve always cooked from scratch as got too many dietary issues to risk something unknown creeping in

I have always eaten reasonably well, I had a food allergy in my teens/20s that forced me into cooking from scratch and I just carried on.
It somehow resolved itself but the cooking habit stayed.

I bought the Chris Van T book and was surprised/pleased to see I was doing most of the things he was promoting already.

I'm slim/thin, low side of BMI healthy weight, and have never struggled with my weight. I dont have food "noise". I'll eat when I'm hungry, could forget to eat, or not actually think I'm hungry until I start eating.

My DH on the other hand is constantly thinking about food. He can finish one meal and then be asking what we are eating for the next. He genuinely panicks about not knowing where the next meal is coming from if we are on a day out.

We just learned of a Japanese expression "My mouth is lonely" and he thinks that expresses him to a T.

He is very overweight. BMI 35. He has constantly for the past 10 years tried to follow every Instagram diet going, and he has stuck at them. Carnivore, vegan, low carb, high protein etc etc. But what he never realises is that he consistently eats far too much on these diets.

It's a real issue in our relationship. I'll make a perfectly lovely balanced meal and he wont eat it as he is on another made up diet onlybeating meat and fruit....but he is eating 1kg of meat and 2kg of fruit at a sitting.

Finally, we have a BIG occasion coming up later this year, I have managed to make him see that he can't be dieting if he's never lost any weight.
He is almost has dysphoria about this and can't see it. He is now on a CICO diet of healthy foods, no fads and in 2 weeks he has lost 7lb.
I'm just hoping he can see the difference and continue this way, as I do worry about his health. His blood results haven't been good, but he thinks they are ok as he plays sport he can force them down himself without meds.

I do know this stems from his childhood and being left without food....I've been trying to getbhim into therapy for years. But I'm just glad atm he is trying something new that has the ability to work.

Also I suppose the point of this whole rambling post is that I don't think any diet can really work unless you do keep, somewhat, on top of the calories you are consuming.

Even after I read the CVT book I began to bake a lot more than I ever had before, then I realised I had never really eaten biscuits and cake at home before, why was I starting now. This seems to be quite common in the UPF free FB groups too

I'm mainly plant based and no meat, but I do eat fish. I batch cook on Sundays for the week, and try to cook a lot. So today I've hard boiled six eggs, four potatoes, some vegetarian sausages and a huge bake of spinach, mushrooms, chickpeas, tuna and pumpkin soup.

I do this to avoid having to think too much about food during the week. Work longish hours and want to minimise cooking time. There are foods, like peanut butter, that I don't have in the house or I would eat the lot. I'm a recovering alcoholic so need firm boundaries.

I'm a bit underweight but not intentionally.

Hey @Agix Agix,

I hope you're keeping well. If not too much trouble, would you mind sharing the name of the WFPB meal service that you used/ use?

Thank you!

Aren't you fabulous🙄

I'm vegan with a diet consisting of around 80% whole foods. For the first time in my life I've maintained a BMI of 21 for 5 years. I'm 55 and have no menopausal weight gain despite HRT. I keep my calories to the recommended level for my age, weight and lifestyle. Nothing will convince me that bread, potatos and rice are my enemy while animal fats and meat are my friends.